1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an information processing system and a method of processing the information, and more specifically it relates to a technique of processing information to improve benefit and convenience of the operator, and to ensure security of the recorded information.
2. Description of the Prior Art
With the wide use of information processors in recent years, the value of information itself recorded in secondary memories is becoming far greater than the value of main bodies of the information processors. Since the secondary memories are generally removable, there is a risk that the information recorded thereon will be used illegitimately by third parties who have stolen the secondary memories. Thus, there are demands for security techniques that render the information in the secondary memories not readable by even the third parties who have stolen them.
Information processors and information processing systems of the prior art, when stolen, can be disassembled so as to take out the secondary memories therefrom. When this happens, the information is not prevented from being used illegitimately by means of only a password at startup if the removed secondary memories is connected to another information processor and used wrongfully. For this reason, in the conventional information processors, upon removing the secondary memories, the information recorded in the secondary memories is rendered not useable by setting different passwords (hereinafter referred to as “secondary password”) for the secondary memories themselves.
With the conventional information processors and the information processing systems, however, there are often cases that operators do not set passwords for startup to save a tiresome setting up operation of passwords. There were also many cases of not setting secondary passwords for the secondary memories. Therefore, there exist great risks of information leakage for the above reasons.
On the other hand, there are often cases in which an information processor is used only in a combination with a display device, and without connecting an ordinary keyboard. There are such cases with automated teller machines at shop fronts of banks, shopping information machines announcing services on shopping floors, and the like. In such cases operators take desired information and guidance by simply inputting supplementary information with ancillary input devices as touch panels integrated to display devices, and without input devices such as the regular keyboards. Furthermore, there are also many such cases for automated continuous presentation of a store guide and explanation of merchandise at shop fronts that do not use even the above-referred touch panels, let alone the input devices like keyboards. In any of these information processing systems, although it is necessary to set passwords beforehand to prevent an information processor and a secondary memory from leaking stored information, it is tiresome for a worker to input a startup password and a secondary password with a keyboard, for the processing system and for the secondary memory every time before starting. This does not contribute to efficiency of the workers. However, without keyboard as means of inputting the passwords, this makes the information processor not only impossible to start, but also unable to use even necessary information stored in the secondary memory.
The present invention, therefore, is intended to avoid an annoying work for the operator to input the passwords at each time as stated above, and to minimize the risk of information leakage in case the main unit or the secondary memory of the information processor is stolen. That is, the information processor and the information processing system are started regardless of presence or absence of passwords, when an input device capable of handling input of the passwords is not connected, even if the passwords are set in them. On the other hand, the information processor and the information processing system are started only when the passwords are correctly input with the original input device or another input device, if there are the passwords set in them. Consequently, the present invention prevents the information from illegitimate use while it improves convenience of the operator.